Sola Air Show 2017

Location: Stavanger Sola Airport, Norway

Closest City/town: Stavanger, Norway

Spotter tickets: N/A

Website: https://solaairshow.no/

The Sola Air Shows is an event that occur once every 5 years and this was my first visit to the air show. The only reason why I decided to go there, was the appearance of the only flying F-104 Starfighter in the world, based in Bodö, Norway. Due to problems found after a test flight, they plane couldn’t participate, so the star feature of the air show was a bust.

There were also advertised features that didn’t show up, such as a Swedish SAAB 39C Gripen and Finnish F-18 Hornet. Neither the Swedish or Finnish Air Forces seems to have confirmed participation, but they were still advertised. If I would have paid an entrance fee, I would feel cheated, but since I didn’t I can’t really complain, though it was a bit disappointing.

But it turned out to be a fairly good Air Show in spite of the “no shows”, with the Belgian Air Force F-16 Solos Display and Frecce Tricolori as the main features. It was a pretty good mix of War Birds, Jet Fighters and civilian airplanes. A noticeable display was performed by a Boeing 737-800 from Norwegian Air Lines.

Since the Air Show was held on an active civilian airport, the program was constantly interrupted by starts and landing of airliners, something that caused big gaps in the schedule of the air show.

I never went in to the show ground, as the best photo spots were located on the opposite side of the airfield. I would recommend staying at the Scandic Air Port hotel and try to get a room overlooking the airfield as you’ll have a great view of the field. Note that Norway is a very expensive country.

All in all, I would rate this Air Show as an average show, with a standard mix of participants with some original acts.